A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

) in consultation with the respective Boards of Reference and Counsel, agreeing that it would become a General Conference project in 1966. A joint report 2 ' of the United States Board of Church Music and the Canadian Hymnbook Committee concerning this project was then given to the General Conference held in Winnipeg in 1963. An inquiry was made into the possibility of joining the compiling of a new conjoint hymnal which had already been started by the "Old" Mennonites and the General Conference Mennonites. It was felt, however, that their work was too far along for effective influence by the Mennonite Brethren. In January, 1965, two musicians selected from each area (total of four members) met in Winnipeg to discuss the organization and structure of the Hymnal Committee, selection of committee members, their duties and responsibilities, formulation of a survey for church music leaders and pastors regarding the Table of Contents and hymn selections, assignment of hymn studies in various areas, and the formulation of a tentative publishing schedule. It was agreed that the Hymnal Committee should consist of two church musicians and one theologian from each of the area conferences. The area Boards of Reference and Counsel made the appointments of the theologians and the area Music Committees the musicians. Thus in June, 1965, the first meeting of the full Hymnal Committee was held in Fresno, California. The members were Paul Wohlgemuth (U.S.) — chairman, Eugene Gerbrandt (Can.), Peter Klassen (Can.), Dietrich Friesen (U.S.), Elmer Martens (U.S.), Victor Martens (Can.). At this meeting a statement of the basic philosophy underlying the hymnal project was written and the Table of Contents revised. Most of the time, however, was given to evaluating each hymn in the Canadian and United States hymnals and selecting core material to be retained for the new hymnal. The project was officially undertaken by the General Conference at Corn, Oklahoma, in 1966, having previously been supported by the area conferences. 22 The new hymnal of 678 hymns, entitled Worship Hymnal, finally came off the press in June, 1971. Because of the unexpectedly high prepublication sales, the first edition had to be increased from 15,000 to 25,000 copies. Within a year the first printing was exhausted and by 1973 the second printing of nearly 12,000 copies was made. SINGING THE NEW SONG 247 In its brief existence it seems to have proven itself as a worthy successor to the two Mennonite Brethren hymnals, The Hymn Book (Canadian, 1960) and the Mennonite Brethren Church Hymnal (United States, 1953). It retained its denominational tone through its selections of hymns and gospel songs as well as in the original contributions made by members of the Mennonite Brethren Church through translations, hymn texts, and musical settings. It also intended to be functional for any denomination of Christian believers of an evangelical pers